


Half-Life: Forgotten Relic

by kiru_goose



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Aliens, Epistolary, Gen, Post-Canon, Science Fiction, Slice of Life, Synths, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:15:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25102270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiru_goose/pseuds/kiru_goose
Summary: Finally, Adrian Shephard has been awoken from the G-Man's stasis . . . several years after the Uprising.After the meltdown of the City 17 Citadel reactor, the power of all connected Citadels collectively failed, cutting off the Combine’s earth forces from the rest of the empire, and fatally crippling their influence on the planet. The severely handicapped Earth Resistance, for the first time ever, had a fighting chance against their alien overlords of nearly two decades.More than ten years later, humanity now faces the ongoing everyday struggle of rebuilding and reppopulating, and the very real threat of another extra-terrestrial invasion haunting the hearts and minds of the liberated people. These stories follow the tales of Adrian Shepherd, former HECU Marine and survivor of the Black Mesa Incident, as he and allies both new and old help forge a new history of knowledge and security for both human- and Vortigaunt-kind.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Half-Life: Forgotten Relic

**Author's Note:**

> Salutations, AO3 Community! This prologue marks my debut on the site, and one of the first few times I’ve written and shared to the public something of mine. Half-Life is my favorite series of all-time, and even if the market for it isn’t very strong on this site, I still felt it would be a good first project since it’s the fandom I’m most passionate about. I can’t predict how long I’ll work on this for, because I haven’t really done this before, but I’ll be as open and honest as I can to any kind of audience I might muster, going into this type of thing.
> 
> My initial goals for this series will be to expand upon the lore and world of Half-Life, and to try to emulate a similar sense of atmosphere Valve and Gearbox’s writers managed to create over the years, while also introducing completely new material and situations through acceptable levels of lore-faithfulness. Since this is a fanfiction and not an actual Half-Life game, I probably won’t be adopting the same style of linear pacing and environments as the games, instead electing to use my own style. I also intend to make this a **mixed media fic** , which you'll find out more about next chapter.
> 
> I have played and closely studied every game in the franchise, sans Half-Life: Alyx as of writing this, but I will some day when I’m convinced the trouble of VR is more worth it to me personally. So, obviously, this fic ignores the latest installment. I apologize in advance if I write anything that contradicts with Alyx’s added lore, and I will make appropriate retcons if I’m still working on this by the time I play Half-Life: Alyx. Until then, I recommend reading this as a pre-Alyx work, or perhaps AU, and please do not discuss Half-Life: Alyx spoilers in the comments!
> 
> Thank you for reading!

NEW MEXICO, 2039  
  
3X YEARS AFTER THE BLACK MESA INCIDENT

The survey team of six dressed in anti-radiation suits, followed by a pair of Vortigaunts, moved quickly through the dark corridor. They shined their headlamps all around, aiming their arsenal of pistols and lab equipment around their blindness. The man in the front stopped, and so did the team behind him. The leader shined his light on an orange sign on the back wall. The years had not been kind; the paint was chipping, and it was overgrown with a mix of Xen and Earth flora that had been allowed to grow for decades. What could be made out read “LAMBDA: Reactor Complex.”

“We’re here,” said the Captain. “Abraham, Edgar, if you would.”

The two Vortigaunts took their positions on either side of the glass door under the sign. They placed their claws on the door’s mechanism and gave it a jolt of energy. The door initially struggled, but soon swung open, tearing through rust and vine. The team made their way through, clutching their handguns and shining their lights around the room. 

It was another laboratory, but this one stood out significantly. The back wall ahead was lined with pods, some still contained multiple HEV suits. At the end of the right hallway on the left wall was the door to the next chamber, and on the adjacent wall, the way to a small armory. On the ground under one of the computers was a skeleton in a lab-coat, cradling a rusted shotgun.

“It’s the old supply depot,” said Sam, one of the surveyors. He shined his light on one of the orange HEV suits. “I heard this is where the science-team would gear up before exploring Xen.”

“This was the Freeman’s final respite before the Nihilanth’s destruction.” said Abraham, one of the Vortigaunts.

Gabriel, another one of the surveyors in hazmat, took a peek inside of the miniature armory. There were some munitions left, but it was mostly empty. In the center-aisle of the armory, on the floor was the skeletal remains of a security guard, wearing a headcrab. The crab was gaunt and dehydrated, and a fair amount of its flesh had rotted away.

“I’ve always wondered,” said Gabriel into his suit’s radio, as he picked through the armory. “A lot of those scientists in those suits made it to Xen, and all of them were lost, except that Freeman guy.”

“The Freeman’s resilience is beyond any one mind's comprehension,” said Edgar over his own radio. Gabriel rolled his eyes as he exited the armory with a dufflebag full of weapons. He set it on the ground, made a mental note to recollect it on the way back, and joined up with the group. They were all ready at the final door that led into what was once the teleportation chamber. The captain gave the go-ahead, and the Vortigaunts gave the door a jolt.

When the steel door opened, they were expecting more darkness, but this massive chamber was illuminated by an obscured entity suspended above the main mechanism of the ruined teleporter. The entire group froze, Vortigaunts too, for a moment before they entered the room with extreme caution. The unidentified object in the air was as large as it was bright. Strong currents of wind assaulted the group from every direction and deafened them with echoing howls traveling through the chamber.

“We sense something in the field!” Abraham tried to shout over the wind, pointing at the suspended anomalous object. “It is a man, he is caught between our worlds!”

With the Vortigaunt’s information in-mind, the rest of the team could now see the object’s detail more clearly. What was left over of the cockpit of an old osprey helicopter had at the controls a man in pre-war military gear. He was frozen, and the field of energy he was frozen appeared to be fading in-and-out of reality. The entirety of the massive chamber remained un-powered, so this incredible source of energy was an unavoidable focus. The Vortigaunts came together in front of the team and addressed the group, and Captain.

“What is holding him between the planes has kept him there for some time, and has been eroding for years!” Abraham said, “We have discovered him just in time! We can sense the power fading rapidly! If we let him fade away, there will be no death. His physical form wall fall between the physical planes, and he will experience a sensation that is neither living nor dead, for eternity. A suffering the unevolved mind is never meant to witness."

“A very literal take on your Schrödinger’s cat!” Edgar added. “The powers of my kin and I combined will be enough to free him, but we must act now! We cannot wait any longer!”

“Fine! Fine!” yelled the Captain, stepping forward from the group. “Just tell us how we can help!”

“My kin and I will bind as one under the craft. For several minutes, our combined Vortessence will become greater than the sum of its parts, which we will focus on the energy field. We expect success, the field will fade and the structure will fall. The man may be injured, but with our combined efforts, he will survive.”

“And the danger?”

Abraham chimed, “The team will watch their heads for flying shrapnel when the aircraft falls if we succeed. There will be no other danger, but we cannot stop the process and must not be interrupted. We cannot afford to start over.”

“Okay!” shouted the Captain, and the Vortigaunts took their positions near the remains of the old teleporter, several meters below the position of the suspended anomaly. They began to chant a guttural hymn in unison, holding their arms out to form a chain of green-electricity connecting them.

“You heard them!” yelled the Captain. “I know this sector was supposed to be empty, but still have your shooters ready! Keep an eye on the door, and stay in the light. Stick together, and watch for barnacles.”

The team of six held the line between the door, where any hostiles were to come at them from. They held themselves there for several minutes, until the real lights came on. Everyone flinched as bright fluorescents were blasted into their un-adjusted eyes. The Vortigaunts did not react, as they were both in a trance. The humans were confused, there wasn’t supposed to be any power throughout the facility.

“HEY!” Gabriel barked, pointing toward the controls. “Who the hell is that?!” It was a humanoid figure on the balcony, messing with the controls. Everyone could agree someone was there, but it wasn’t any of them. But none of that mattered, because the teleporter began to activate.

“He’s turning the machine on!” Someone in the group had yelled.

“That’s impossible!” yelled the Captain. “There shouldn’t be any power! Someone shut it off before—”

But it was already too late, the first sequence was all that was needed. The field was struck by a blue beam of energy from the teleporter, which incited a violent reaction from the anomalous field, causing it to implode on itself. The survey team, and Vortigaunts, were pulled violently into the chaos and destruction, torn apart in an instant. The implosion, imitating a black-hole, continued to eagerly collect matter from around the room until overwhelming itself with a balled-cluster of debris and body-parts. The reaction released a powerful force of energy, forming another crater in the facility, rivaling the warhead that had detonated in the parking garage during the original Black Mesa Incident.

Any evidence of whatever happened in the surviving Lambda Reactor Complex that day was now forever buried under miles of radioactive ash and rubble. Soon, however, nearly every Vortigaunt on Earth was about to know exactly what had happened, and they would immediately piece together who was responsible. The Vortigaunts knew there was nothing they could do, and so they continued to wait for an opportunity to present itself, rather than instill unneeded fear among their human allies. Trustworthy friends of the hivemind would come to know the story, but overall, the general human populace would remain mostly ignorant of the second Black Mesa Incident for several years.


End file.
